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Community- Episodes 5.12/5.13 "Basic Story/Basic Sandwich"- A great season ends on a sandwich note

20 Apr 2014

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A season of Community came to pass in the blink of an eye; 13 episodes is far too short to do what this season intended to do, which was putting back the pieces of the show together, and yet somehow the show managed to do that by episode 4.
The 4th season of the show tried to do an admirable thing, it tried to evolve into a show that was more broad, but at the same time a show that could keep its heart and push characters forward; the writer’s heart was on the right place, but somewhere along the execution a part of the show’s essence felt lost, and that was that Greendale didn’t feel like a place for crazy people to make something better by coming together anymore; season 4 was like a strike of sanity of a place that should be more insane and crazy, and as a result the season often felt slow paced.
So season 5 vowed to make a return to form, and unexpectedly mounted a comeback, reaching the heights of season 2 and 3, but there are still flaws in the way.

The two part finale “Basic Story” and “Basic Sandwich” are a reflection of those flaws as they clinch to some of the most basic and old stories Community has. Yes, I’m talking about the Jeff-Britta-Annie love triangle, which I think by now should have already been resolved.

For most of this season, Community has done what seems to be spiritual squeals of some of their greatest episodes: “Cooperative Polygraphy” is obviously a newer version of “Cooperative Caligraphy”, “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics” is a somewhat newer “Basic Lupine Urology”, “Geothermal Escapism” is like “Modern Warfare” and “Advance Advance Dungeons and Dragons”… well, the title already says. “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics” aside, all of these sequels works well, but as we go through with them I wonder, why is Community rehashing their old material instead of doing something new? Don’t get me wrong, the show did plenty of new of stuff, but most of the season felt like an attempt to scratch back to what the show once was. It was wonderful, but it does raise a question: what will the show do next season?

Community can’t rely on old stories forever, it has been great to revisit them and to have be able to look to a newer version of them, but along the way it feels like the development just halts for a little bit. We got to see a more vulnerable side to Abed with his interaction with Hickey and with his girlfriend Rachel, Shirley and Jeff became closer together, Chang found a way to tune down the crazy a bit while still being himself, and all that is great, but it’s not that much to carry a whole season.

By going back to its past, Community made hilarious episodes but it had to sacrifice many possible steps forward. “Basic Story” and “Basic Sandwich” fall back once again to the show roots, with the love triangle, but does a terrible job at dealing with it.

When Greendale is surprisingly saved and it is declared a valuable property our beloved community college is quickly sold to Subway. Everyone at Greendale is dealing with the situation in a particular way, Abed and Annie seem to be in denial, looking for a way to fix it, The Dean falls into crying and despair, and Jeff and Britta decide to get married. Yes, it comes that abruptly.
I frowned when I saw these two getting together so fast; the only build up to this was the resurgence of Jeff’s feeling for Britta on “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality” and in that review I commented how I always thought these two still felt something for each other. However, I didn’t expect them to make such a crazy call so soon without proper build up to it.

One of the reasons I didn’t review “Basic Story” last week is because I had to see where things were going, otherwise I would have been quite harsh with this call. And after seeing “Basic Sandwich” I think one of the biggest problems with it is the execution: I don’t buy Jeff and Britta as the kind of couple who holds hands and say lovey dovey stuff to each other, they are more grounded and real than that, so every time they acted so sweet to each other it felt off; I’m sure these two love each other, but that’s just not who they are. And I have seen enough jealous Annie through these 5 seasons to deal with it once again; by this point it is outright bothersome, because I can easily predict what are her thoughts on the matter and what she is going to say.

Abed makes a point that “Jeff and Britta aren’t going to spin off to their own show which will only last 6 episodes” (I love how he expressed it, and Annie’s sudden interjection “Abed! Stop developing!) so it’s a clear sign that by the end of the episode the couple will be broken up. And sure enough, it only takes for Greendale to be saved and one disagreement for them to stop being a couple. It feels lazy and rehashed, and surely it’s not one of the things I want to see Community doing again.

But for all the bothersome this issue brought to me, there were many great moments, from Abed trying to escape from every possible forming story (which was both weird and hilarious), the inspector trying to knock down a bending machine and then The Dean trying to do so too once Greendale was announce to be sold, Duncan being electrocuted and then shown having tea with Shirley and Hickey as they were “caught up in action” by the School Board members, one of the School Board members trying to sneak into Hickey’s head among many other funny moments and amazing lines through the way.

But they main story is still a bit flawed; not only the triangle thing bothered me, I was never sold in the whole hidden computer lab facility, I called from the word go that they would find the property rights there, and the whole thing with the computer powered by emotion and Jeff trying to power it up by watching his friends was weird even for Community’s standards. I couldn’t get too much into it, many times it felt off place.

But you know what? All in all it was pretty ok to good, I had a good share of laughs and I loved how at the ending Abed assured us that they will be back next year, a callout for all the fans who are anxious about the show’s chances of being renewed. I’m 85% sure the show will be back, the writers, NBC exces and Sony exces are confident that they will hammer a deal for a final season. And I’m ok with it; I think it’s time that Community ends.

A 6th and final season is not only fitting because of the inner joke the show made way back along season 2 or 3, but because the show has already explored as much as it had to and now it seems like a perfect time to give these amazing characters and the great community college that is Greendale a final bow. I’ll be sad to see this show going as it inherited the title of my favorite comedy in the air once How I Met Your Mother ended (despite its putrid finale I still recognize its greatness), but I think season 6 is the perfect time to say goodbye.

Finale Grade (both parts): B

Season Grade: B+

Stray Observations:
-Shirley: “I have a problem with Abed having a problem.”
Abed (with Shirley’s voice): “I don’t think is nice to make fun of people’s gimmicks”.
Oh god, I loved that moment!

-Dean through loudspeaker: “Attention students of Greendale… I accidentally pushed this button, so I thought I might as well check on you, so how are you?”
Everyone: “Fine.”
Dean: “Aw, that’s nice. I love you guys.”
Everyone: “We love you too.”
This moments is both funny and poignant at the same time, I swear I said “aww”.

-Hickey: “I’ve seen insurance appraisers bleed. Their blood is different. Darker.”

-Abed’s conversation with his beard alter ego felt out of place to me, am I missing something?

-It was nice that Shirley called Jeff out for suppressing his feeling when the insurance appraiser came; it shows how close they really are.

-Dean struggling with the bending machine: “Let me be one of the six this year!”
Golden line, right there. I think the Dean pretty much stole every great moment in the finale.

-The Dean pretended to use a label machine to become more organized. It didn’t pan out, but it was great when he labeled his forehead with a label that said “Bad Dean”.

-It’s not a season of Community if Chang doesn’t unexpectedly betrays the group once!

-Dean: “What is this?! An hour long episode of The Office?!”

-Abed: “This isn’t just their show. This is our show.”
This line reflects pretty well how I feel about a perfect Community episode, an episode that uses the whole cast to its fullest. Sadly, I can’t say it was the case for the finale.

-School Board Member: “Your school is still bankrupt and it is still unmarketable and it is still on the permanent chubby block of anyone who has any say on its future!”
Dean: “Yeah? Well around here, we call that Wednesday!”
That’s a perfect closer line!

-Abed: “We will definitely be back next year. If not is because an asteroid destroyed all human civilization.”
Come on asteroid! Miss the Earth!

-“Depending on what fails”
The show recognizing it is a utility player and how fine it is with it.

-So, here’s a summary of each episodes grade this season:

1: B+, 2: A-, 3: D+, 4: A, 5: A, 6: B, 7: A, 8: B, 9: B+, 10: B, 11: A-, 12/13: B

See you next season folks! I’ll do my best to pick up the slack and bring those reviews in time!

About the Author - Pablo
I'm currently studying Psychology while also writing fantasy books (one already published in my home country, Chile, you can check it out on the facebook icon). I watch many different types of shows, including my favorites Revenge, Game of Thrones, Once Upon a Time and about 23 more. Currently writing reviews for Once Upon a Time, How I Met Your Mother and Community

17 comments:

  1. Great review. Can't believe the season is over. I so agree that 13 episodes is too short!

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  2. Indeed it is! But at least we still get something, which is what counts,
    Thanks for following my reviews and commenting! I really appreciate it :)

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  3. Yes, that is try :)


    And thank you for writing them!

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  4. Agree about the love triangle, but most shippers want to see Jeff and Annie together.

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  5. I'm glad Dan doesn't seem the type to listen to shippers, that ruins so many shows.

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  6. Sure, but he created that ship himself and has expressed many times that he thinks the chemistry between Jeff and Annie crackles off the screen. Everything to this point indicates that they will eventually get together. Otherwise it was rather pointless to drag it on for 5 seasons.
    And I wouldn't say it ruins so many shows since most showrunners don't care about shippers or fans in general. It's different for certain people in the movie side of the industry who go out of their way to provide fan-service... ala Chris Nolan with the ending of Dark Knight Rises.

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  7. I really dislike the ship, I don't really ship anyone in Community though I do for many other shows and movies but Jeff/Annie just continues to be weird for me. If they do end up together well it won't ruin the show for me but it will leave a bad taste.

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  8. Oh well. Different strokes for different folks. I use to be indifferent to their ship, but then they started to remind me of couples from the classic films I mentioned, right down to Jeff's love of scotch and the age difference between them. There's even a bit of Roman Holiday thrown in there.

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  9. Great review. I agree that 13 episodes is far too short. And thank you for pointing out that the season 4 showrunners did try to keep the heart of the show the same. Whether or not we feel they failed or succeeded, the fact of the matter is they tried and kept the show going. They get too much flak for something that is out of their control (the show being in Dan's head and NBC/Sony firing him).

    I agree on some of your points about the episodes. For me, Basic Story wasn't that great on my first watch. It had some truly great lines, but the story just seemed all over the place. I didn't like Abed's trying to avoid the story plot, and Jeff/Britta was just really weird. Basic Sandwich (in my mind) saved some of the pitfalls of Basic Story. Unlike A Fistful of Paintballs and For a Few Paintballs More, Basic Story couldn't really act as its own episode, it needed Basic Sandwich.

    Basic Sandwich had some great lines in there as well, although I did think Shirley, Hickey, and Duncan were underutilized. Which is to bad because I do enjoy all of those characters.

    I can understand people's apprehension and rolling of their eyes at the love triangle coming up, but I actually felt it was handled a bit better this time, at least on the Jeff/Annie front. I've seen a lot of people commenting that the episode established that Annie has more than just a school girl crush on Jeff. I know we've seen that Jeff has feelings for Annie a dozen and a half times already, but as a fan of them, I didn't mind that it was Annie that gave him the emotion to open the door (loved the music accompanying the opening and closing of the door). But I do think its about time to pick a side on that front. At this point we've seen their reservations yet attraction, which is more than I can say about Jeff/Britta (who work much better as friends).

    Overall, I liked the season finale better than last year's finale. I'd put it more on par with the first season finale, since Season 2 and 3's finales were easily the best. Do I wish there was more? Hell yes I do! But I'll take that we got what we got. I think this one felt the least bit like a series finale, so I would be extremely disappointed if it got canceled. It has definitely deserved its sixth season and a movie! Plus... I don't want the world to get destroyed by a meteor... and that's canon.

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  10. Thanks! Great to see you here!


    I agree, Basic Story can't stand on its own, which is why I waited for Basic Sandwich. Before watching the finale I re-watched Basic Story and then watched Basic Sandwich, and it made way more sense than it did on my first watch. I also agree that this finale is pretty much like the first season finale, and I'm ok with what I got, there were countless moments of laughters (as I pointed out in Stray Observations), but the triangle thing is really getting to my nerve, most shows would have already resolved this issue already and I hope it isn't dragged on next season (which has to happen, we don't want to die yet!). I know it's not as simple as a school crush, but we've seen this over and over again, so I think the show will really need to move forward next season, and that could result in very poignant episodes which I'm really looking forward.


    My take on next season is that I hope to see these characters giving the final step towards independance, by that I mean that they can function by themselves as well as they do when they are together, I think it is the best way to say goodbye to them. The cards are on the table, it's just a matter of being played right, and I trust Harmon and company will do the best with what they got.

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  11. I did the same thing with rewatching, it made it seem better watching it as a whole unit as opposed to separate episodes.



    I'm not sure why I don't find this triangle getting on my nerves as other people do. Maybe its the years of other shows that wait until their final season or final episode to get the main couple together, or maybe just cause its Community and the focus isn't really on the couple that I just don't mind it. Although after some of the discussions I've had this year, I do agree that it is about time they either have it happen or end it. It would create a new dynamic and possibly poignant (in a different way) episodes if they were together, plus it'd be with Dan at the helm so it wouldn't be as awkwardly handled as Troy/Britta was last year.


    That would be the ideal way for them to end it. Have all of them be able to function as good as they do while with the group except independently. But also keep it so that we know these characters will be in each others lives. I absolutely trust Dan and the rest of the writers to give us one hell of a sixth season. Just gotta wait for NBC to get on that renewal.

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  12. Yeah, it would be interesting to see how Dan would deal with it. I'm there with Jeff when he says "it will be the most boring thing it happened since Troy dated Britta" which was the very recognition that the couple didn't play out well in season 4. I think they'll finally go there and so something about the triangle next season and I expect powerful episodes concerning those issues.
    Even though the triangle never took stage center in the whole show, it does become a little boring when Community uses this thing over and over while time passes, I want to see something more and I believe we will see it.
    And I also believe NBC will make us wait until the last second before renewing Community, but I'm quite sure it will be back

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  13. I actually really love that classic film comparison, Jaedon. I don't think I'd have made that connection on my own, but it really does fit!
    The "Sabrina" model works especially well: the older (but still hot!), cynical and jaded man is obsessed with his job and thinks happiness comes from material success. Then he discovers that that younger, idealistic 'little girl' he knew has actually grown up to be an amazing woman, and she helps him find a more human, caring side he never knew was there. Against his better judgement and even against his own will, he is falling in love with her...
    I've never been a hardcore Jeff/Annie shipper, but I've liked the pairing pretty much from the start. Thinking of them as parallels for Bogey and Audrey Hepburn makes me love the idea all the more.
    (It also makes me want to go re-watch Sabrina. Off to my DVD collection...)

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  14. Man I think I like you!
    You said stuff I wanted to say, without me overworking my brain to type it all up. I'm glad someone like you exist.

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  15. Yeah, Sabrina is one of my favorites, as well.

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  16. True. I'd say the 2 things that get a little repetitive on the show (not including the Dean outfits and Chang using the word Chang in Season 3-4) is the same thing being shown with how Jeff/Annie care about one another, and Shirley learning basically the same lesson every time she has an episode. I hope Shirley gets a bit more showtime next year cause she was definitely underutilized this season.


    I expect the same with NBC making us wait. I'm hoping that since the numbers came up just a bit and they beat at Parks & Rec, which is pretty much already renewed, that Community should get a renewal.

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  17. Great review! I also agree with your assessment of the triangle. At this point, it just seems so unnecessary. I thought Annie already dealt with her feelings for Jeff and after slowly building a plausible rekindling for Jeff/Britta throughout 4 and 5, the writers just decide to dismiss character growth again and create an extremely weird subplot. (As you stated, Jeff and Britta holding hands and being lovey dovey was never something they'd do. Their relationship was always so much more than that.) While this show should be more about the ensemble as a whole instead of about "such and such" couple, I do feel it caters to the Jeff/Annie fans. Now, I myself like Jeff, Britta and Annie all as individual characters. And like Annie, in my experience I have tended to like older guys too. Yet, I still think of the Jeff/Annie angle just having too many years between them. I think most fans would prefer no endgame relationship and therefore the constant feeding into a long ago resolved triangle seems pointless.

    Now I love Community to death, and I believe in it still. This season was pretty decent overall and provided what I think may have been the biggest laugh of the series with the Dean's payday rap. However, the last few finales (3-5) have really seemed like their just trying to please the most vocal fans. Let's take for example Glee...the pilot for that show will remain one of the smartest starts to a series in TV comedy. And yet, that star fell fast once the showrunners decided they were going to try and please everyone with an exhausting amount of pairings and character regression. While I do think fan's opinions have merit, I think shows should have a set storyline that remains unaltered because of the audience's opinion. This is why Season 1 & 2 are by far the strongest.

    I have faith in Season 6 even if NBC makes the dumb decision not to renew. I just hope it involves all the good parts of this show so that it can end on a happy note.

    Great review!

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